Immediate Reactions: Jets 372, Bills 28

I believe it was the great philosopher William Madison, who after watching the Bills home opener, looked down to Old Man Clemens’ sidewalk and said, “Here’s a nice piece of ^&%&.”

It’s super easy to be down on these Bills after such a horrendous — inauspicious at-best — debut. In fact, it’d be easy to unveil an award-winning line of cynical tee-shirts:

1) “No We Chan’t”

2) “Fitztragic”

3) “Barkley/Bray 2013”

It’d be easy, but it wouldn’t be fair. Yes, your Buffalo Bills looked awful for the majority of Sunday’s game in New Jersey, but let’s dig a little deeper before we head to the toilet.

— Ryan Fitzpatrick was simply awful. What kills the spirit is that his interceptions weren’t “gunslinger” picks where he tried to fit the ball into dumb spaces, they were just horrible decisions. The first one was him laser-eyeing Stevie Johnson. The second was an inaccurate throw to a wide-open receiver. The third was, well, among the worst interceptions you will ever see in this game of American football.

— Fred Jackson’s injury status, however, is a far more important single-game story. It is not blowing things out of proportion to say that the 1-2 punch of Spiller/Choice is a major step back. Jackson’s injury appeared to be really bad, and as much as I’m looking forward to hearing Chan Gailey and Fitz’s comments on the abomination as a whole, the take on Fred’s ailment is going to be far more important.

— The Bills pass rush was shockingly terrible. Mark Anderson had a nice play early that led to a Bryan Scott interceptions, but Mario Williams and Kyle Williams were nearly invisible against the throw. Marcell Dareus looked strong throughout the course of the game in both phases. Oddly enough, Chris Kelsay may’ve been the best pass rusher for Buffalo.

— That said, the front four will need its back seven (?) to bail it out, which certainly did not happen. The Bills young corners can be forgiven — perhaps — but Jairus Byrd was awful. At one point, he was running away from D’Brickashaw Ferguson (not that most of us wouldn’t). The linebackers may have not been involved in pass coverage at all. That’s my only explanation for the acres of green at MetLife Stadium.

— Hate to say I told you so — because I’m not sure where I wrote or said it, but I did — but Mark Sanchez is not a horrible quarterback. He’s won road playoff games and his “awful” 2011 season had 26 TD and 18 INTs. I’m not surprised the Jets quarterback played well, rather that their line gave Sanchez a decent amount of time to operate.

Remember when Alex Smith, another former No. 1 overall pick, was completely written off as capable of leading a team to the playoffs? It appears the New York media did the same with Sanchez even after the USC product did his fair share of postseason passing.

— C.J. Spiller was fantastic. Including his last three starts of 2011, he now has 73 touches for 596 yards and 5 TDs. The Bills, however, badly need an alternative to Tashard Choice. No offense to the locker room gem he must be, but I think he’s the most pedestrian third-string running back in the league and if he’s your second-string…

— Really, TJ Graham couldn’t see the field? Wouldn’t you rather have that extra weapon rather than the guy who kicks the ball out of the end zone? Does Brad Daluiso have a Super Bowl ring? Sorry, Western Michigan fans, but I don’t need two kickers.

— Marv Albert is a living legend, but Rich Gannon continues to be among the worst in terms of broadcast analysts. Yes, the guy who told us Trent Edwards would “put it all together” ad nauseum couldn’t decide what he loved more:

1) the genius of Tony Sparano at utilizing the Wildcat with Tim Tebow

-or-

2) the ignorance of Tony Sparano at putting Tim Tebow in for Mark Sanchez in order to run said Wildcat with Tim Tebow.

Keep on truckin’, Gannon.

— The special teams really shouldn’t get overlooked here, because they too were awful. Punt return TD may have been the backbreaker, but why isn’t Rian Lindell handling onside kicks? He’s good at it.

— I’m so sick of replacement ref talk. Football fans almost always complain about calls, so why do we need to pretend that’s amplified by replacement refs? Do we miss Ed Hochuli’s pythons that much? (Well, probably…)

— If you weren’t “done” with Leodis McKelvin before today, how can you not be now? He’s not even close to an adequate cover corner and I also can’t say he’s a good enough returner to keep a youngster like T.J. Graham — whom the Bills traded up for — off the field.

Stat line I liked…

Scott Chandler, four receptions, 38 yards, TD

– Very pleased to see him start another season with a touchdown. I’m still puzzled at only carrying two tight ends (Lee Smith had one grab for five yards), but that’s the new NFL.

Stat line I didn’t like…

Ryan Fitzpatrick, 18-of-32, 195 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT

— You really want an explanation for this?

Game ball(s)…

Spiller

Who else are you going to give it to? A defensive back?

Lastly…

It really is just one game… where you may have lost two offensive starters to injury. Yet, truly, one game.

Next week…

GREAT news: the Chiefs are still not very good at American football and they are traveling to the Ralph, which is a good spot for a home opener even in lean times. I’m going to stay positive and not label this year as part of the lean times just yet, so Buffalo 31, Kansas City 17.

6 Responses to Immediate Reactions: Jets 372, Bills 28

The Zen saying “When nothing changes, nothing changes” is so appropriate for our beloved Bills. Inept quarterbacking and a co-dependent coach who blindly supports the inept quarterback are just the starters on our disfunctional menu.
The saddest part of all this is that we have 15 more weeks of suffering ahead of us.

When do we call out Hillbilly GM who is sooo smart that hr has refused to draft a QB and a WR then when they do draft one the don’t fress him. Look at all the sophmore QB & rookies starting this week. How about Stephen Hill this year and the rook with the the Texans what about Russell Wilson or Kurt Cousins Come on Buddy get the tooth pick out of your errr aaah and build a team that is on the field

I was raised not to be a fairweather fan. However, I feel no shame whatsoever about being a fairweather Bills fan.
The franchise is in dire need of systemic change. I may check in with them from time to time because there will be some fun along the way (like last year’s delicious Pats win). However, there’s no point in really hoping for more than fleeting glimpses because the problem has remained the same throughout the entire history of the franchise (which, if you take out those four remarkable years has been pretty freaking lackluster).
There’s the whole Ralph is cheap meme, which is misleading at best. Ralph has shown that he will shell out big money for a player that he feels will help. The problem is that he will NOT shell out any money at all for coaches and GMs with vision and with a championship track record. And even the capable ones that he has hired have left because of money or football operations disputes. There’s no reason for any coach or GM to come to Buffalo unless they’re truly desperate or have nothing (but football games) left to lose. In today’s NFL, you just aren’t going to win much if you don’t have exceptionally bright and capable GMs and coaches with well thought out systems and a knowledge of how to use them with the players they have. The entire Buffalo Bills culture needs to change if the team is to find success. As fans we can help. Let’s stop rewarding mediocrity.